Matthew Shaftel and I continue our collaboration as MTO co-editors in this second volume of 2008. We welcome three new Assistant Editors that have worked with Brent Yorgason in preparing this volume: Sean Atkinson (Florida State University), William Guerin (Indiana University), and Mitch Ohriner (Indiana University).

Volume 14.2 features three articles, a commentary, and a review:

Nicholas Baragwanath develops a critical approach to Puccini’s melodies that integrates counterpoint and voice leading, interpretation of dramatic meaning, and theories of melodic expectation in “Analytical Approaches to Melody in Selected Arias by Puccini.”

In “Aspects of the Music/Text Relationship in Rap,” Kyle Adams proposes an analytical methodology based on the origins of rap music, in which music is composed prior to a text that may be improvised initially. Readers are forewarned that some of the music discussed contains explicit and potentially offensive lyrics.

Olli Väisälä’s “Rhetoric and Justification in Analysis: A Commentary on Eric Wen’s Commentary” continues the discussion of Peter H. Smith’s Expressive Forms in Brahms's Instrumental Music: Structure and Meaning in His Werther Quartet, reviewed by Samuel Ng in MTO 13.4.

David Nicholls reviews The Music of Michael Nyman: Texts, Contexts and Intertexts by Pwll ap Siôn (Ashgate, 2007).

Also included are listings for employment opportunities, calls for papers and other announcements, and new dissertations.

Submissions to MTO are welcome at any time. We invite full-length articles, shorter commentaries, and innovative electronic formats. Comments in response to this issue’s articles may be submitted to the Editor for publication in the next issue.

Our dynamic listings for job announcements, upcoming conferences, calls for papers, new dissertations, and new books are updated automatically as soon as we receive and approve any new listing. Readers can check the MTO listings at any time to find current information on recent announcements. We also have links for submitting announcements and welcome new listings to keep our postings current.